5 European cities that come alive at Easter

2 March 2017

From chocolate tasting to quirky festivals, there’s an Easter city break out there for everyone. Pop a little spring in your step with these long weekend ideas

By Chloe Cann

Easter in Europe marks a time of new beginnings. Days are slowly getting longer, snowdrops and crocuses are blooming, shirt sleeves are gradually shortening, and bank balances are finally back in the black after Christmas and New Year. The end of lent is the perfect excuse for a weekend of indulgence, regardless of whether or not you’ve actually fasted. So why not escape England’s April showers and use the bank holiday weekend as an opportunity to hop over the channel for a city break?

For chocolate fanatics: Brussels

The Belgians know a thing or two about chocolate. After all, it’s here in Brussels that the world’s first praline was dreamed up in 1912, and the first pressed chocolate figurines were sold in 1840. And although it’s a small country Belgium punches well above its weight in the confectionary world, with more than 320 chocolateries to its name and almost 10% of the national workforce said to be employed in the industry. In Brussels, sample ganache-filled easter eggs from quaint timber-framed chocolate shops, take a chocolate-themed walking tour or perhaps visit the Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate.

For religious traditions: The Vatican and Rome

The world’s smallest country also boasts some of Europe’s most ostentatious Easter celebrations. There are stacks of events taking place in Vatican City and beyond it in Rome. On Good Friday the most important Easter event nationwide takes place: the Via Crucis (Stations of the Cross) procession at the Colosseum. It is presided over by the Pope and draws huge crowds – even non-religious visitors are likely to be captivated by the spectacle and the atmosphere. There’s also an Easter Eve Mass held on Holy Saturday at St Peter’s Basilica, not to mention the pope’s Easter message on Easter Sunday, given from the basilica’s balcony.

For festival spirit: Valencia

Semana Santa (Holy Week) is one of the most fascinating events in the Spanish calendar, with lavish spectacles taking place across the country. But in Valencia there’s a unique maritime slant to the celebrations that has seen them designated a “Fiesta of National Tourism Interest”. Local brotherhoods dressed ominously in pointed hoods walk in formation to the beach to the sound of church bells tolling, complete with statues of Jesus on the cross in tow. Midnight on Easter Saturday marks trencà perols, when people throw old pots, tableware and water from their windows and balconies to celebrate new beginnings.

For feasting: Athens

By a quirk of the calendar, Greek Easter typically falls after the one that’s pencilled in most British diaries. But in 2017 the two align, meaning you can experience Greece’s centuries-old traditions during the bank holiday weekend. Unsurprisingly for a nation whose cuisine is so world-renowned, food plays a large part in the festivities. On Easter Saturday families come together for a feast of magiritsa (a tripe and herb soup) and tsoureki (a brioche-like bread), before devouring an entire spit-roasted lamb on Easter Sunday. And throughout the weekend the city’s charming old churches heave with locals coming to worship.

For spring flowers: Amsterdam

Amsterdam has long been a hotspot for flower lovers, and there is no better time to see this city in all its floral glory than at Easter, when the grass is green, the birds are chirping and the tulips are in full bloom. Parks freckle the city centre, but it’s on daytrips into the Dutch countryside that you’ll appreciate the full extent of the local passion for nature. Keukenhof, the world’s largest flower garden, will bowl you over with its immaculate rows of pastel petals, and rivers of vivid blooms, while the Flower Strip boasts a further rainbow of daffodils, hyacinths and more.

Published by Mail Travel, a division of Associated Newspapers Limited, a company registered in England under company number 84121 with a registered office at Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT

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